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Keep Akron Beautiful Flowerscape Notes

Hi folks! Sue, Chuck, Tim and I have been around the City of Akron prepping and planting Keep Akron Beautiful Flowerscapes. We’re ready for another beautifully bloomin’ year.

Since a lot of my friends know what I do, I get a lot of planting or plant questions. So, I thought I would share some of the most popular ones with you: What type of ornamental grass is planted behind the sidewalk benches in front of the City of Akron’s Lock 3 park? What advice do you have for planting a flat of flowers? and What type of tall, stalky year-round flowers are at the KAB offices, at the Flowerscape at Cedar and Maple and at Lock 3?

Picture of a blooming pennisetum karley rose.

What type of ornamental grass is planted behind the sidewalk benches in front of the City of Akron’s Lock 3 park? Pennisetum karley rose, which blooms feathery, fluffy pink flowers around July and through the fall. It is a slow spreading oriental fountain grass. Hearty and reliable for any garden.

First of all, it’s best to follow the lighting requirements on the flat card insert, or check the Internet. You’ll find that most petunias thrive in full sun while violas typically prefer shade. However, sometimes all this can depend on a species of flower. For example, some different species of geraniums bloom better in sun while others in the shade.

After finding the best spot in your beds from doing your sun/shade research you: prep the soil with peat moss or compost, loosen up the root ball a little bit, because it gets all bound in their little flat cup, and then plant flowers as deep as they are in the flat you received.

Picture of blooming limelight hydrangeas

What type of tall, stalky year-round flowers are at the KAB offices, at the Flowerscape at Cedar and Maple and at Lock 3?

Those are perennials (a plant that can last through the seasons for more than two years) called limelight hydrangea. It is actually a shrub that blooms light green blossoms in July which slowly change to a pink shade by September.

See picture below of limelight hydrangeas in bloom (in the back) in 2012 at KAB offices.

Keep Akron Beautiful has limelight hydrangeas that bloom each year at their offices located in the Central Services Facilities Building at 850 E. Market St., Akron. They are shown in the far back of this camera shot taken in 2012.